Juxtapose
by Shimegami-chan
Summary: One-shot. "Of course, the history books are always filled with rumours and legends, lies and half—truths, more than the usual in the story of the town's most famous spook..." The story of one lonely spirit boy.


A/N: My first Danny fic, hopefully not my last.

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**Juxtapose**

_by Shimegami-chan_

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Anyone living in Amity Park for any length of time has to get used to the idea of the paranormal. There's no denying the existence of those who historically disrupted the community on a regular basis; and while the occupation of 'ghost hunter' has fallen out of use, the legend of Amity Park's most (in)famous ghost hunters is a tale that simply refuses to be forgotten. Particularly since their own personal ghost (guilt? grudge?) still haunts the town to this day.

He occupies the house he died in, knocking on the windows, shouting to passersby. Even now, fifty years and two generations later, the house still stands empty and he can be seen watching longingly from the upper floor, frightening and and entertaining those who gather outside the famous haunted house to catch a glimpse.

The ghostly boy allegedly died suddenly from mysterious causes - not a mark on his body, in perfect health. They say he just slipped into a coma one day as he left for school, lying motionless on the front lawn until the ambulance was called. He died within the day. It's said that he was once the son of those famous ghost hunters, who could not bear the thought of their child becoming that which they hated, doomed to haunt the spooky house for eternity. He didn't seem to be able to leave the property, and hardly anyone had set foot in the residence in nearly as many years as it was said the child died in. Seemingly vengeful, he prevented the sale of the house when his parents first tried to rid themselves of its guilty memories, and was instead left to himself when they moved to a distant state, willing the cursed place to their only remaining child.

The sister of the dead boy is nearly as legendary in this town, initially merely for her place in the famed family; later for the way she was often spotted entering the haunted house at night. Rumours spread that she was trying to free or destroy the spirit of her brother, holding midnight seances, practicing black magic and more. This strange behaviour eventually caused the breakup of her marriage (another event attributed to the family blight), and, now elderly with one grown son, she lives on her own in an apartment at the edge of town.

How's that for a legend? That entire family, ruined by ghosts. In the history books, they call it the Fenton Curse. Of course, the history books are always filled with rumours and legends, lies and half-truths, more than the usual in the story of the town's most famous spook (outside of Inviso-Bill, of course, who had disappeared barely a year after he came to town). Probably, the only one who knows the true story of his own tragedy is the ghost boy himself. But who'd try to interview an irate, vengeful spirit?

I can tell you a few things about the famous Fenton house that only a few others in Amity Park will ever know or believe - a lot of things. Such as how young Danny Fenton's death was indeed an accident, but far less mysterious than the town was led to believe - and the cause of the mishap the very parents who would later mourn his death. Have you ever heard of the Fenton Unfixer? Probably not, since Jack Fenton destroyed it, along with their other ghost hunting tools, shortly after Danny's death. This new weapon was designed to disposess ghosts from whatever worldly object they had affixed themselves to, in order to capture them. As with any device invented by the Fentons, it had a reversal switch, that would possess the nearest ghost around _to _whatever object it was aimed at. The machine was left unfinished and was shortly trashed, of course, when Danny Fenton simply passed out when leaving his house the next morning.

Did the Fenton Unfixer have anything to do with the accident? Of course it shouldn't have, right? After all, the boy was a human, not a ghost. But it was long after the deed had been done and the Unfixer destroyed before anybody, Danny included, thought about whether the device might have been a cause. That maybe Jack had tested it by aiming it at the walls or the floor, trapping the next ghost to come along...or any other spirit that happened to leave the premises. Before it became apparant that without the machine, Danny Fenton's spirit might be forever tied to the house.

No history book will ever tell you for sure what it is that Jasmine Fenton does inside her family's former home. Trying to design her own Unfixer without any sort of a mechanical inclination has taken her over 40 long years, years that saw her parents' deaths (of heartbreak, rumour says) before she was ever out of college and the ruin of her own career and marriage. But still Jasmine tries, knowing that once she departs this world, no one will remain. Her little brother will be left to his eternity - no amount of exorcism can get the angry spirit out of there.

... How do we know he's angry? Because he's a ghost? Well, it's in the history books, of course, which are The Truth, right? No? It certainly is the truth that the Fenton ghost scares away realtors who try to show the house, and prevents anyone at all from entering the basement laboratory. Down there, they say, is a giant Gate that leads to the ghostly relm. They say that the ghosts that terrorized Amity Park, including the legendary Inviso-Bill/Phantom, entered the human world through the Fentons' basement, and surely one of the reasons Danny Fenton's spirit still haunts the house is so that he can guard the Gate forever.

But that simply isn't true. Few suspect that it is Phantom himself who dwells just outside the gate, forcing back intruders as they enter, waiting for eternity to pass. You know, and I know, and Jazz and Sam and Tucker know. But the world will never know.

Nobody can ever suspect that the real cause of my death was my parents' crazy inventions. I ensured that they never found out - it would have destroyed them, just like if they had discovered that I was actually Danny Phantom, the elusive ghost-boy, too. Until and if Jazz completes the device that will free me from this house - then what? Pass on peacefully, or continue guarding Amity Park? Could I choose my own happiness over the people of this town? What would become of me if the house were to be demolished? Even I don't know what will happen. But I do know that I wish to be freed from the walls of the house, so that I can at least fly under the stars, and think a little less about immortality. So to speak.

And so no one else can ever make the connection between the famous halfa Phantom and the wailing ghost of Daniel Fenton, who pounds on the windows of his prison when he sees familiar faces pass him on the street; people who avoid looking at their former classmates' old home.

... Scared yet? You should be. Another few decades trapped in this place, and I might _really_ get angry. But here in Amity Park, it's something you'll just need to get used to.

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A/N: Been mulling over this one for a few days, ever since I started watching DP. Uh...Icouldn't help myself from giving him a little spark of hope, originally I was just going to write Jazz out, and give the impression that he was stranded forever...but I can only handle so much angst.

Might be a one-shot, or the start of something bigger. You tell me.


End file.
